Story:Star Trek: Conflict/Measured, Weighed and Divided
The ''Enterprise'' becomes trapped over Earth while a hostile invasion force is en route and Federation ships race to destroy them. Summary Chapter One Having left the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, the two ships have left Earth's atmosphere and are preparing to go to warp before the complex's surface-to-orbit defenses go online. The streaks out of the system easily, leaving the ''Enterprise'' behind. Meanwhile, the Away Team from the ''Enterprise'' have returned with their captain. K'hallA orders him to get some rest, since he's been gone for a very long while and needs to rest before returning to duty, despite his best efforts to return to command. Despite the panicky behavior of the crew, he is able to fall asleep in his cabin. On the Bridge, K'hallA orders the ship to go to warp before they are attacked. But when the warp engines are turned on, the ship rocks with the force of an explosion. Edward Shield is woken by the rumble of the explosion, and his bookshelf tips precariously, sending several books flying onto the floor in front of him. At the top of the pile is his Bible, opened to . Chapter Two On the Bridge, K'hallA learns from Engineering that the explosion was caused by a sudden plasma burst into the warp core, which had to be shut down before an overload came about. K'hallA thinks that this might be a trap, which is confirmed when Rookwood detects that, during the beam-up, there was another person beamed with them. K'hallA takes Loghri and goes to Engineering to investigate. Upon reaching there, they discover the intruder: Dauk-Dauk from the . He says that he is only doing his mission, which makes K'hallA suspicious, since she has no reason to believe that Lianna Young would plan espionage against the ''Enterprise'', but Dauk says that his orders came from the "master" not from [Young|"that racist [expletive captain"]]. Further investigation reveals that Dauk and the civilian crew were under orders from the master to infiltrate and sabotage the ships. K'hallA asks why he suddenly begins telling this to her, and he says that returning to Cheyenne Mountain Complex made his memories return, especially his mission. Meanwhile, an intruder alert alarm sounds on the Bridge. K'hallA orders Dauk taken to the Brig while she deals with the intruder. She finds that it is only Shield, who accidentally tripped the intruder alert alarm she placed on the captain's chair. She apologizes, saying that she set it to respond if the occupant wasn't her. She reset the alarm and asks what he is doing away from his quarters. He responds that he noticed the jolt made and that, according to the ship's computer, they were not moving. Upon realizing where they're still stuck over, he suggests that they find a way to leave immediately in order to escape recapture or destruction. K'hallA says that she has to deal with an intruder and leaves him to plot their next course. Though it has been many months since he sat in the captain's chair, Edward Shield still knows his way around the Bridge and its controls. A sensor sweep detects several emergency transmissions about a massive invasion force coming from the Typhon Expanse towards Sector 001. Without the , Shield knows there's little chance of stopping the assault fleet. However, he answers a live distress call from a neutral colony asking about Typhon III and if the Federation will rescue those it has left behind. Shield asks and discovers that the slave camps are still active and, in light of the invasion force - from a group identified by the colony's representative as the Ultari Empire - the Federation have abandoned Typhon III, leaving the slaves to fend for themselves. Shield is angered that all their work was for naught, but chooses to make for Typhon III once the ship has warp power online again and rescue the slaves once again. Chapter Three On Earth, Tristan Marshal and Jean-Luc Picard have arrived at Cheyenne Mountain Complex, where Halliwell has been given another dosage of stimulants to get him into operating condition. The three of them meet, where Jean-Luc Picard tells them that the left Sector 001, but that the ''Enterprise''-C remains immobile. Halliwell tells his children to take the Intrepid and destroy them, but Admiral Picard states that this cannot be an option since they're received reports that the Ultari are massing an invasion force from the Typhon Expanse that is en route to Earth. Tristan says that he's dealt with the Ultari before and therefore will deal with them again and leaves. Once he leaves, Admiral Picard asks Captain Halliwell if it worked. Smiling, he says yes, and then states that the little one's time is now up. The and leave Earth's orbit and converge on the ''Enterprise''-C. Without warning, it suddenly goes to warp. A quick scan of its projected path leads them directly toward the Typhon Expanse. Remembering from their last encounter, Tristan Marshal thinks that Shield might be wanting to rendezvous with the invading Ultari. Despite his misgivings over the Ultari and the fact that he felt that he had betrayed Edward Shield to the Federation, Marshal felt that he had no choice in the matter: it was either the ''Enterprise'' or humanity. He orders the Intrepid and Templar to give chase. Before going to warp, Kira Hoshi calls in the , asking the captain to leave his post near the Bajoran wormhole and stop the ''Enterprise''-C at the Tengaras system before it entered the Typhon Expanse and joined the invading Ultari fleet. Meanwhile, Katie is fuming at Edward Shield for endangering the ship by causing another plasma burst in the warp core. Shield said that it was necessary since the engines had been offline for too long and therefore had started cooling down and needed to be jump-started in order to give them enough power to leave Sector 001. She goes back to see to the restarting engines while Shield decides to see to the interrogation of the saboteur. Chapter Four Shield arrives at the Detention Cell and asks Dauk-Dauk who put him up to his mission and if the others were involved. After a moment of silence, the little Ithenite explodes in fits of rage. While attempting to calm him, he passes out as if dead. Shield carries him down to Sick Bay immediately, where Dr. Boreas discovers several nanites placed in specific regions of the limbic system and motor cortex. These are set to release a dangerous toxin that causes severe pain before slowly killing off the victim. Dr. Boreas was able to remove them before too much toxin was released, but he has to prepare an anti-dote for the amount that was released before Dauk-Dauk is killed. Shield muses that whoever Dauk's master was definitely didn't want him to reveal too much, which was why the nanites were activated then rather than later. Meanwhile, K'hallA reaches the Bridge when the ship is struck with another violent jolt. This time, they have been pulled out of warp at the Tengaras system, still away from their course. Three Federation starships appear and the captain of one of them asks to speak with [[Edward Shield|the Enterprise s captain]]. K'hallA says that she is still acting captain and asks that any requests be brought to her first. Marshal says that this New Insurrection has crossed the line as the Maquis did in the 24th century by allying themselves with the Ultari. Though K'hallA knows nothing of this, Tristan Marshal is not open to negotiation and orders his ship to attack the ''Enterprise''. With the and fighting them, it seems that there is no hope of escape. However, K'hallA is a more-than-capable battle commander and with Smith's help, is able to maneuver between the ships sustaining minimal damage. All this time, Shield is trying to make his way back to the Bridge but explosions and side emergencies cause him to deviate momentarily. Back on the Bridge, Smith discovers the red matter rift generator, which is keeping the ship from warping out of the system. Further scans indicate that the generator is on the . However, the 24th century Enterprise is no match to the 25th century ships against which they are matched. Escape seems impossible... Chapter Five ...but just then, an Ultari battleship is pulled off its course by the rift generator and brought into the battle. The Federation ships call off their attack and begin attacking the Ultari ship. K'hallA uses the distraction to take the Enterprise to warp (by slowly moving out of the radius of the Invincible on impulse power). Seeing that they didn't attack their ships while fighting the Ultari vessel, Tristan Marshal presumes that perhaps he was wrong about the two being allied. After the brief battle, Kira Hoshi and Fredrick Drake suggest going after the ship, as they are ordered to. However, Tristan Marshal says that he sees the Ultari as a greater threat than the New Insurrection and so calls off the pursuit. Meanwhile, Edward Shield arrives at the Bridge once they've gone to warp. Once Smith leaves, he comments that he is now obsolete since K'hallA is more than capable of running the ship without him. She says that he is needed still, that nothing was accomplished while he was away, and wants him to take command again. They share a tender moment, which is cut short when Dr. Boreas ask them to report to Sick Bay. Once there, they find Dauk-Dauk fully revived, though weak, and explains what he can remember about how he was captured, brain-washed and forced to become a saboteur and spy for the Federation. Shield says that he will give him fair-treatment as long as he is on his ship, but cannot guarantee that protection should he return to his old mission while on the . He commemorates Dauk on his bravery, and says that he should be commended for it. As he prepares to leave, K'hallA asks him why he chose to remain on Beta III for over half a year. He replies that he had to learn things, and he says that he has learned that the Federation has been finished, found wanting and shall be divided. Category:Star Trek: Conflict Episodes